I sat in the Wednesday evening service, discouraged. Not about attendance or church conflicts. No, Ms. Spiritual was discouraged about the color scheme. Yes, the outdated color scheme and the frayed wall covering in the hallway and the rusty fence around the parking lot.

I had just returned from an important meeting in Tennessee with a lot of important people, all dressed impeccably, and meeting in the most gorgeous ministry facility I had ever seen. Every room, from the dining hall to the restrooms, could be featured in House Beautiful. And here I was, back in my dumpy church, feeling inadequate, wondering why anyone even comes.

Our own Southern California backyard has Lloyd Ogilvie's and Chuck Smith's churches, the Church on the Way and Crystal Cathedral, among others. Our converted warehouse, located right behind a lovely bowling alley, could be called, "Jay's Pray 'n Bowl" or "The Church That's Way Out of the Way," or perhaps, "The Stucco Cathedral."

I didn't have much time to be depressed ...